Nets Give Up Chance to Close Gap on Raptors

Paul Pierce after a foul by Toronto’s John Salmons, center, in the first half. Pierce had a season-high 33 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead the Nets.

Michelle V. Agins / The New York Times

By ANDREW KEH

January 27, 2014

Deron Williams wiped his hands against his shorts before taking a bounce pass from the referee near midcourt. Williams toed the sideline, readying to inbound the ball as the Nets’ clung to a 1-point lead over the Toronto Raptors.

Twelve seconds remained on the clock, the Nets had no timeouts, and as the seconds were ticking away, Williams was coming to the realization that his teammates were not getting open. Seeing one last option, he flung a two-handed desperation pass to Joe Johnson, who was streaking into the Nets’ backcourt.

“I kind of saw Joe open,” Williams said, “but it was just a bad pass.”

The ball floated over midcourt, and Patrick Patterson, a Toronto forward, leapt into the air to pull it down. Patterson flipped the ball to Kyle Lowry, who gave it right back to him. Patterson pump faked, sending Williams flying the other way, before nailing a 12-foot jumper that left six seconds on the clock and effectively sealed a stunning, 104-103 win Monday night for the Raptors at a suddenly hushed Barclays Center. Williams slunk off the court knowing that the play would eat at him all week.

“Can’t take it back,” Williams said, noting the Nets do not play again until Friday. “Wish I could.”

It was an uncharacteristic miscue from Williams, who finished with 9 points and 11 assists. It was an uncharacteristic loss for the Nets, who entered the game with 10 wins in the 11 games they had played in January. And, in a way, it all highlighted the still-discombobulated state of affairs in the N.B.A.’s Eastern Conference.

There were the overachieving Raptors, extending their lead over the Nets in the Atlantic Division to two and a half games despite their own claims that they were in an incubation stage. There were the Nets, a team that entered the season trumpeting trophy ambitions but that only recently began to back up those pronouncements.

The expected order to the standings may ultimately fall into place, but the tense, halting and ultimately stunning contest Monday ensured it would take a bit more time.

Paul Pierce had 33 points and seven 3-pointers, both season highs, to lead the Nets. His sixth 3-pointer, with 3 minutes 8 seconds left in the game, gave the Nets a 97-96 lead. It was an impressive performance from Pierce, one night after he made an emotional return to Boston, where he played for 15 years before being traded to the Nets in the summer. He scored only 6 points Sunday, saying afterward that it was one of the hardest games he ever had to play.

Pierce took the Nets’ final shot, but it was always unlikely to fall in. The Nets did not have a timeout left, so as the final seconds ticked away, he ranged down the right sideline and flung up a 3-point attempt that clanged off the side of the rim.

“At the end, you have to improvise,” Pierce said. “We didn’t have a play.”

The Nets’ only other loss this month occurred Jan. 11 against the Raptors. The Raptors have been a surprising success halfway through the season, despite being cast early as a rebuilding project. They entered Monday’s game as one of five teams in the Eastern Conference with a winning record and had particularly flourished since trading Rudy Gay on Dec. 9. More changes may come before the Feb. 20 trade deadline.

Perhaps that was why Dwane Casey, the Raptors’ coach, seemed adamant about playing down the team’s expectations, saying it was a team in “building mode” whose only goal at the end of the season was to “remain relevant, as we’re growing and as we’re developing our young guys.”

Casey said before the game: “For us, having some success, winning-wise, has been a byproduct, a plus, a step ahead of the process. I haven’t lost sight of that, of where we are and who we are and how far we have to go and how much growing we have to do.”

The Raptors were without DeMar DeRozan, their leading scorer, who sprained his left ankle Saturday and did not travel to Brooklyn. Terrence Ross, who tied a franchise record on Saturday when he scored 51 points, was held to 10.

Lowry, the subject of trade rumors, served as his team’s chief agitator. He swished a half-court shot at the buzzer on the run to give the Raptors a 57-56 lead heading into halftime. All game long, he slipped through cracks in the Nets’ defense, scoring a team-high 31 points.

But as important as any of those points was his final pass to Patterson, one that helped preserve the odd disarray in the Atlantic Division.

REBOUNDS

Members of the Seattle Seahawks, in the area for the Super Bowl on Sunday, were in attendance at Barclays Center on Monday night. Jason Terry, who is from Seattle, raced across the court between the first and second quarters to hug cornerback Richard Sherman, who sat courtside.